Back to the Future
by Fireflycross
Summary: Sequel to Back to the Past. Saphira's life is good but a disease threatens the life of her grandmother and she is forced to return to Toyko, forced to face memories and maybe someone she has tried to forget. Discontinued
1. Back to the Future

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or its affiliates. I do own the characters I created for this story and the ideas in this story.**

**Chapter One: In the Future**

She closed her eyes as the tears slid down her cheeks. She remembered the terrible event that had sent her through the well. Something even more horrible then what had sent her mother through the well before she had even been born. Her mother had been betrayed by someone she loved, something like that had happened to Saphira too. Except the betrayal of her mate and lover had ripped her heart from her chest. In one foul swoop her mother had been taken from her. He had killed her baby brother too, but because of the unborn children she had been carrying in her womb she was able to harness the life-giving powers of Tensaiga and choose one of the two members of her family to save. It had broken her already shredded heart to choose between her mother and her brother, but she had to choose, so she did. Inumaru was still a baby while her mother had lived a long life; a long life for a human anyway. Saphira still didn't know what became of Inuyasha. She had been too terrified to dig into the history books when she had returned to the future.

She sighed leaning against the door frame of their summer home as the sun rose over the ocean. They always traveled to Florida in the winter and then back up north in the summer. She had left Japan before her own children had been born.

_"Do you really have to leave?" Saphira's aunt Karen pleaded tearfully. Her niece had just returned from the past battered and heart broken, and she feared that her niece wasn't thinking logically._

_"There is too much pain for me here," Saphira answered sadly. "Anywhere I go, I see him out of the corner of my eye, but when I turn to look I see no one."_

_Karen looked at her niece sympathetically, they knew that her mother had been killed. Finding out what had happened had taken a lot of coaxing on Karen's part, but none of them had been prepared for the gruesome story Saphira told them. _

_Saphira had told them, with an emotionless face, that her mother and brother, who was playing quietly at their feet, had been murdered by her mate. She didn't know what became of her mate or Inumaru's father, Inuyasha, and had told all of them she had no desire to know their fates. Karen had cried quietly, mourning the death of the sister she would never know. Souta left abruptly and shortly after they could smell smoke. One of the children came in to tell them that their father had set the well house on fire._

_Grandmother had sat still not moving. She only looked at Saphira, then stood up and patted Saphira's shoulders. "Let forgiveness wash away the pain, my child."_

_"Please, don't tell the children what happened," Saphira had begged. "I don't want them to know that their father is responsible."_

_They had all nodded in agreement. The children, both Inumaru and the unborn twins, had already suffered enough pain. _

_"I still don't know why she has to leave. We are her only family," Karen had said to Souta when she thought Saphira was out of hearing distance._

_"No one really knows what they are searching for," Souta answered. "Saphira has to find a way to heal, and if leaving here is the only way she can do it then it is what she has to do."_

_"But Inumaru is an orphan, she is his only family," Karen protested._

_"I'm sure she plans on taking him with her, she is his mother now," Souta had assured his wife. _

Saphira's memories faded from her mind as she heard life stir in the house behind her.

"Mom, what's for breakfast?" A yawning voice asked her.

She turned to see her eldest son clamoring down the stairs.

"Bacon, eggs, ham," Saphira answered trying to remember what else was in the refrigerator. "Are Nakia and Maruchi awake yet?"

"Yes!" Called a voice from the second floor. "Nakia won't get out of the bathroom!"

"Use mine!" Saphira shouted at her son. "And don't miss the toilet!"

"Want some help with breakfast?" Inumaru asked.

Saphira nodded and smiled. Inumaru had always helped her out whether she asked him or not. As they were preparing breakfast, Saphira wondered if she had done right by her children. Had hauling them halfway around the world been fair? Although those hair raising moments when she thought Sesshoumaru had come to the future to haunt her followed her where ever she moved, she had never really seen him except in her dreams and out of the corner of her eye. But, the mind did play tricks on the senses didn't it? In the modern era her nose wasn't very useful because of all the other smells assaulting it, it made it harder for her to pin point one particular scent. In the moments where she would swear on the lives of all her children that he was near her, she never found him.

She looked at her eldest son, he looked a lot like Sesshoumaru. She supposed it was their grandfather that Inumaru took after rather than Sesshoumaru. Inumaru had the long, silvery hair and often wore it up in a pony-tail. He had those purple markings on his cheeks, humans often thought the markings were tattoos. That was normal for human children his age, Inumaru was only twenty.

"What is it, Mom?" Inumaru asked noticing his mother glancing his way.

"Oh, nothing," she sighed but Inumaru only raised his brows at her. "Well, it's just that I've been feeling guilty about moving around so much when you and the twins were younger. I should have stayed in Japan with Souta, Karen and Grandma rather than moving to America."

Inumaru only smiled sweetly like he did when he was a toddler. "I don't think I ever minded, Mom, and I don't think Nakia or Maruchi noticed or cared either."

"That's very nice of you to say, honey, but don't you miss your cousins?" Saphira asked, but before Inumaru could answer the phone rang. Saphira picked it up. "Hello?"

"Saphira?" Karen's voice was small and frightened.

"Karen, what's wrong?" Saphira asked immediately knowing something was wrong.

"It's Grandmother," Karen said and Saphira could her the tears hitting the phone. "We think she's dying, Saphira."

Saphira stood very still. "What?"

"It caught us all off guard, the doctors say its cancer," Karen was now crying and her voice was becoming scratchy.

"When did this happen?" Saphira almost demanded.

"Well, she had been feeling more and more tired the past few months and we thought it was just old age," Karen explained. "But then she started having these high fevers, so we took her to the hospital. They did all sorts of tests, they even took some marrow from her bones to test. And they found out she has stage four Hodgkin's disease. It's in her organs, Saphira, and so far the chemo hasn't stopped it."

"We'll be on the next plane for Japan," Saphira said. "We'll call you when we get there."

"What's happened?" Inumaru asked after Saphira hung up the phone.

"Grandma's sick," Saphira said leaving the kitchen. "Get upstairs and tell your brother and sister to pack enough clothes for a few weeks."

Inumaru nodded and hurried out of the kitchen and up the stairs.

Saphira clicked the phone and then off again. She went to the counter for her purse and began to rummage through it. She then found what she was looking for and clicked the phone and dialed a long number. Her credit card gave her air miles and she was overdue for free flights.

She hit different numbers on the phone trying to get out of the automated system.

"This is American Airlines customer service, how may I help you?" A woman said.

"Yes, I need to collect my miles for a trip," Saphira said then gave the women her card number.

"You qualify for three, first class, round trip tickets to anywhere worldwide," the customer service representative chirped. "Where is your destination?"

"Tokyo, Japan," Saphira answered.

"You have your passports, correct ma'am?" The woman asked.

"Yes, and so do my children," Saphira answered.

"No one in your party is pregnant?"

"No."

"When do you want to leave?"

"Today if possible," Saphira said.

"We have a departing, non-stop flight to Tokyo leaving at noon at Miami International Airport," the customer representative replied.

"Excellent," Saphira said pleased.

"Would you like transportation to be waiting for your arrival at the airport in Tokyo, Ms. Ryuji?" The woman asked.

"A stretch limousine, please," Saphira answered after thinking for a moment.

Her father, Doragon Ryuji, had accumulated a great amount of wealth in the centuries before Saphira had been born. Saphira had contributed to that amount when she returned from the Feudal Era and began investing her inheritance. After her children had started attending school, Saphira went to law school and became a lawyer. She was currently one of the wealthiest woman in the States, and had law firms from coast to coast.

"Alright, ma'am, you're all set. You just need to pick up your boarding passes at the customer service desk at the airport," the woman said.

"Thank you," Saphira said then hung up the phone. She turned to see her daughter coming into the kitchen. Nakia was wearing a white tank top, with cut off jean shorts and Converse low top sneakers. It was a warm day for the end of February. Nakia was wearing her long, wavy, strawberry blond in a sloppy bun. On her cheeks were the faint crimson, parallel markings she inherited from her father. Saphira had the same markings, so the children assumed they inherited it from her. But, Nakia's eyes belonged to her father, and were amber colored.

"Please tell me that you're changing before we leave," Saphira sighed. "You know it will much colder there."

"Yeah," Nakia said after looking at herself in the reflection of the window. "So, why are we leaving?"

"Grandma's sick," Saphira answered. "It's serious, Karen called crying saying all sorts of things."

Nakia frowned. "Is she dying?"

"Maybe. Are you're brothers packed yet?" Saphira asked.

"I am," Maruchi came into the kitchen lugging behind him a huge suitcase. He was the spitting image of Sesshoumaru, complete with facial markings. The only thing he had inherited from his mother was her brilliant, dark sapphire eyes. He wore his silver, white blond, hair short. It curled up with ringlets falling into his eyes.

"Is that yours?" Saphira asked skeptically.

"Nope," Maruchi smiled eying his twin.

"Nakia," Saphira sighed.

"What?" Nakia asked shrugging innocently. "A girl needs a variety of clothes."

"Yeah, but this is just her shoes," Maruchi laughed.

"Well, the plane leaves at noon, so if you guys hurry we'll stop and get breakfast on the way," Saphira said heading out of the kitchen and up the stairs to pack her own bags. She packed her warmer clothes: pants, sweaters, jackets. She knew that weather would be in the fifties or possibly lower when they got there.

"Hey Mom," Nakia called coming into the room.

"What?"

Unsure of how to begin and uncomfortable to boot, Nakia looked out the window quietly.

"What!" Saphira said getting slightly irritated with her daughter.

"Well, I have this report in one of my classes," Nakia began slowly.

"Yes?"

"It's about tracing our linage," Nakia said softly. "I have no trouble with you or Grandma's family, but I don't know anything about...my Dad's family."

Saphira stiffened. She knew that her children had always assumed that she had separated from their father before they were born. The faded scar on her neck had never been recognized as a mating mark. They didn't know what had happened to their mother.

"Please, Mom, don't cry," Nakia whispered.

Saphira reached up and touched her wet cheeks.

"Don't worry about it, Mom, I'll make something up," Nakia said turning to leave.

"Sesshoumaru," Saphira whispered.

"What?" Nakia said pausing in the doorway.

Saphira cleared her throat. "You're father's name was Sesshoumaru."

"Was?"

Saphira looked away from her daughter's face. "He died, Nakia, a long time ago."

Nakia quickly left the room to find her brothers.

"Why is Mom crying?" Maruchi demanded when he caught sight of his twin.

"I didn't mean to make her upset," Nakia said reluctantly.

"So? What did you do?" Asked Inumaru.

"I sorta asked her about Dad," Nakia admitted.

Both boys looked at her angrily.

"Why do you insist on digging up what has already past?" Inumaru asked.

"Don't you know that it hurts her to think about it?" Demanded Maruchi.

"His name is Sesshoumaru!" Nakia said quickly to distract them. The distraction worked catching them both off guard.

"You mean like the ancient taiyoukai Sesshoumaru?" Maruchi asked in amazement.

"I don't know about that, but maybe he was a descendant of the taiyoukai," Nakia said. "It explains why we transform into a inuyoukai or a dragon."

"My father was a inuyoukai," Inumaru said thoughtfully. "Maybe they were related!"

The twins regarded Inumaru skeptically. "Like our mom and your mom would fall for a relative of our father."

"What if he wasn't a relative," Nakia said, her imagination beginning to work overtime. "What if our father and your father were the same person."

"That's kinda gross," Inumaru said. "But might explain why my real mom died."

"Are you guys ready yet!" Saphira yelled from the first floor.

"Yes!" They yelled in unison.

* * *

"I call window seat!" Nakia exclaimed as they boarded the plane.

"Why? So you can claim that there's something on the wing?" Maruchi asked sitting in the aisle seat next to his twin's. There were only two seats to a row, and the seats were big and comfortable.

Saphira sighed and looked at Inumaru.

"You can have the window," he said letting her slip in.

"You're such a sweet kid," Saphira said gratefully.

"Yeah, yeah, I've heard that before," he said grudgingly.

Saphira sat down, smoothing her blouse. She was wearing dress pants and a blazer. The kids were wearing khaki pants and polo shirts, except for Nakia who was wearing a mini-skirt and blouse.

The flight was long and uneventful, something Saphira was grateful for. When they got off the plane they found the limousine driver waiting for them at the gate. The poor man got stuck with all of Nakia's luggage.

As the sliding glass doors opened, a blast of icy air whipped by them.

"Jesus! It's freezing!" Nakia chattered.

"I told you it would be cold," Saphira said.

"I want to go back to Florida!" Nakia wailed.

"It is warm in limousine," the driver said in broken English. Saphira had made sure her children learned Japanese, but the twins were lazy and would rather use their native tongue.

"Thank God!" Nakia said jumping into the limo. They all piled in after her.

"Where to, Ma'am?" The driver asked when he was done loading their luggage and had gotten back into the car.

"Higurashi Shrine, please," Saphira said pulling out her cell phone and dialing numbers quickly.

"Can you get a signal out here?" Maruchi asked when his mother hung up the phone and threw it into her purse.

"No," she answered sourly. "They're probably eating dinner."

"I'm sure someone will be looking out for us, you called them and told them what time we would be there right?" Inumaru asked.

"Yes."

The top of the hill where the Shrine sat was ablaze with the light pouring out from the house.

As Saphira and the children got out of the limo, voices floated down the stairwell.

"Saphira! Is that you?" Came Souta's voice from the top of the stairs.

"Yes!" Saphira called back. "Send the kids down to help with the luggage!"

Saphira heard rather than saw the dim figures racing down the stairs.

"Cousin Nakia!" Souta's youngest daughter shrieked tackling Nakia. They were about the same age, Nakia was only a year older.

"Hana!" Nakia squealed, the two boys screwed up their faces in displeasure.

"Girls, girls! Settle down!" Saphira commanded with her own ears still ringing. They only giggled and stumbled up the stairs carrying nothing.

"Hello, Cousin Saphira," said Souta's eldest child, a boy, and offered her a hug. He had been six or seven when she had returned from the Feudal Era.

"It's so good to see you, Akio," Saphira said hugging her cousin tightly.

"Hey Akio!" Maruchi said grabbing his second cousin's hand and shaking it. "How have you been?"

"Fine, fine and you, Tomo?" Akio asked calling Maruchi by the nickname he had given as an infant. Tomo meant 'a twin'.

Maruchi only grinned. "Glad to know some things never change."

"Hey Inumaru, you look like a girl with your long hair and pony-tail!" Akio said teasing his eldest second cousin.

"I will not dignify that comment with a response," Inumaru said smiling.

"Come on, boys, lets get into the house!" Saphira ordered, then turned to pay the driver. "Thank you so much."

"No problem, ma'am," he said and returned to the limo.

Saphira followed the boys up the steep stairwell lugging her bags all the way to the top. Once she reached the top she paused to catch her breath.

"Man, I'm out of shape!" She muttered to herself, suddenly the treetops exploded as a flock of birds took off.

"That's weird," Akio said turning around. "Something must have scared them."

Saphira felt the hair raise on the back of her neck and arms. The feeling that had haunted her years before returned. She felt as if someone was watching her.


	2. Unexpected Visitor

**Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or its affiliates. I do own the characters I created for this story and the ideas in this story.**

**Chapter 2: Unexpected Visitor **

"Saphira! Akio!" Souta's voice called from the top of the stairs. Saphira tried to shake the feeling off but had no such luck.

She followed Akio up the rest of the stairs and into the house. She was immediately tackled and crushed.

"Saphira! I'm so glad you came!" Karen's voice cried.

"It's no problem, really," Saphira said trying to breath, for a human Karen was exceptionally strong. "How's Grandma?"

Karen pulled away from Saphira brushing her hair out of her face like she had done when Saphira had been a child. "She's stabilized. They've been fighting the fever off with something called an ice blanket. It's like a plastic cover that they lay on the bed and iced water goes through it. Grandma lays on it and it cools her body. We're going to the hospital after dinner."  
"Good," Saphira said.

"We added a guest house onto the opposite side the house. The girls share your mother's old room, and Akio has Great-Grandpa's old room," Karen said leading Saphira into the kitchen. Sure enough the back door no longer led outside, but had been turned into a hallway leading to the guest house.

"How have things been?" Saphira asked setting her roll-away suitcase down.

"Well, Souta was cleaning out the attic and found something interesting," Karen said looking at Saphira thoughtfully.

"What was it?" Saphira asked.

"It was a long box with Inumaru's name on it," Karen said carefully. "It's very old, and the handwriting has all but faded away."

The hair on Saphira's neck stood up on end. "Show it to me."

Karen shrugged and led Saphira up to the second floor, then pulled the stairs down that led up to the attic. The attic was dusty and full of boxes.

"Here it is," Karen said picking up a very long box, long enough to hold a sword. "We didn't know if you wanted him to have it or not. Souta wanted you to see it before he did."

But Saphira ignored her aunt's ramblings and was staring at the handwriting on the box. She hadn't seen that handwriting for almost eighteen years. She knew the hand that had written her eldest son's name belonged to her long dead mate.

She ripped the box open and was stunned to see Tessaiga, looking as old and worn as ever. There was a note underneath the sword, and Saphira recognized it as Inuyasha's chicken scratch.

Inumaru, if you are receiving this sword than I have died before I could give it to you myself. If I have died then I left the sword in the care of your uncle, who will give it to you when you are ready. Live well, my son. Inuyasha

Saphira clutched the note to her chest as blue dots danced in front of her eyes.

"Saphira?" Karen said but her voice was faraway.

Saphira fainted dropping the sword and box.

Souta hearing the heavy thunk of something hitting the floor climbed the stairs.

"Karen? What's happened?" He asked unable to see his niece laying on the floor.

"Oh, dear," Karen said. "I showed her the sword and she fainted. You'll have to help me pick her up."

"I'm too old for that! We'll have to call Akio and Inumaru," Souta said climbing back down the stairs and calling the boys. "Put the sword away, Karen."

Karen quickly hid the sword and pocketed the note before the boys climbed up the stairs to carry Saphira down.

"What happened, Aunt Karen?" Inumaru asked setting his mother down on the sofa.

"Jet lag I guess," Karen said shrugging. Inumaru could smell the lie on his aunt, but said nothing. He was sure his mother would tell him what had happened when she came to.

"You kids get ready to go to the hospital," Souta said to the children gathered around the sofa.

"Who's staying here with Mom?" Inumaru asked looking down at his mother.

"I'll stay," Maruchi volunteered. "Grandma will want to see you, Inumaru."

Inumaru nodded, his real mother had been his grandmother's oldest child and her only daughter. Kagome had died in the invasion when he was only three along with his father and his uncle, he guessed. He was the only thing left of his mother, besides Saphira. Since Saphira obviously couldn't go, it made sense he would go.

Soon Maruchi was left alone with his mother. Karen had fixed him a plate of food before leaving, but set it down and rummaged through the pantry looking for Raman noodles.

"Inumaru?" Saphira's voice called weakly.

Maruchi trotted into the living and hovered over his mother. "It's me, Mom, Maruchi."

"Oh, hey baby," Saphira smiled at her son. "You look just like your father."

Her comment threw him off. She had never said anything about his father before.

"Except your eyes, they're mine," Saphira frowned for a moment then brushed her hand against the markings on his face. "I'm sorry you have nothing to remember him by."

His mother's disorientation was making him nervous. Maybe she had a concussion.

"Do you want me to take you to the hospital, Mom?" He asked worriedly.

"Nonsense!" She said sitting up. There was a knock at the door and Maruchi looked down at his mother then walked into the hallway to answer the door.

"Can I help you?" Maruchi asked the man standing at the door. The man was tall, taller than Maruchi which was odd. The only person Maruchi knew that matched him in height was Inumaru. His sister being slightly shorter than both of them.

"Yes, I am an acquaintance of Saphira Ryuji," the man answered smoothly. Something seemed vaguely familiar about the man. His hair was almost the exact same color as Maruchi's hair and was short but not curly. His eyes were amber like Nakia's eyes.

"I'm afraid she's not feeling well at the moment," Maruchi said nervously. His mother was in no shape to handle some stranger's visit.

"Who is it, Maruchi?" Saphira called her voice surprisingly strong.

"Someone for you!" Maruchi called back.

The hairs on Saphira's neck stood up again as she stood and walked to the door.

She gasped catching sight of him, her blue eyes widening, and the blood draining from her face.

"Mom?" Maruchi asked worriedly.

"I...I...you're dead!" Saphira whispered to the stranger standing at the door.

"I survive through five hundred years of war, famine, and politics to see you. Then I have to track you down because you insist on moving from place to place as if you know that I am looking for you. And all you can say is that you thought I was dead?" The man asked incredulously.

"Leave me and my children alone," Saphira hissed stepping between the stranger and Maruchi.

Maruchi, picking up his mother's nervousness and anger, growled, "Who are you?"

The man smiled over Saphira's head at Maruchi. "Son of perfection, huh? I would have preferred Sesshoumaru junior," the man grinned showing off his fangs. "What about Nakia? That's not even Japanese or American."

Saphira, who had been growling, said, "It's Egyptian."

"Ah, yes, you were in Egypt before you had them weren't you?" He asked.

"What do you want from me?" Saphira growled.

Sesshoumaru stepped into the house, but when he looked down at her the teasing face was gone.

"Saphira, what happened was my fault," he said seriously.

"You're damn right it was," Saphira said. "You killed my mother and my brother, do you expect me to allow you back into my life after all this time."

Maruchi who had finally realized who the stranger was. "This my Dad?"

Saphira sighed and looked at her confused son. "Yes, he is, Maruchi."

"He...he killed Grandma?" Maruchi asked looking down at his mother. "And Inumaru how is that possible?"

Saphira sighed softly looking up at her son. "It's a long story, best saved for when all of you are present to hear it."

Maruchi cut his eyes back at the man who was supposed to be his father. "You've been around all this time?"

The man nodded curtly.

"If you didn't bother to come around till now, then I don't want you in my life," Maruchi said evenly stepping in front of his mother. "Nor my mother's life or my sister's. You may have sired me, but you have not earned the right to call yourself my father."

"Pup, I suggest that you step aside," Sesshoumaru said dispassionately.

"I think that the 'pup' is right," came a voice from behind Saphira.

She turned at the sound of her eldest son's voice. "Inumaru?"

He stood there, surprisingly holding Tessaiga casually at his side, and looking at Sesshoumaru almost fiercely. "In the old days, an interested male would have to battle the father of the female he sought."

"I am aware of what was done in the old days, pup," Sesshoumaru said with an edge of impatience.

"Since my mother's father is no longer on this earth," Inumaru continue as if Sesshoumaru had said nothing. "You will have to battle me instead."

"No," Saphira said whipping around to look at Inumaru. "I won't allow it."

Maruchi nodded in approval over his mother's head.

Sesshoumaru looked at Inumaru with an odd expression on his face. "Very well."

"I said no," Saphira growled, then turned to Sesshoumaru. "This has gone far enough, leave me and my family alone!"

"They are my pups," Sesshoumaru stated. "Isn't it customary for the father in this day and age to have visitation rights?"

"With those rights come child support," Saphira said irritably. "If you've been tracking me all this time you know damn well that I'm a lawyer. If you want visitation you owe me money for the last seventeen years."

Sesshoumaru reached into the pocket of the black leather overcoat he was wearing and pulled out a checkbook. "How much?"

"There is also the matter of proving that you are their father," Saphira said dismissing his question.

"A simple blood test," Sesshoumaru said shrugging.

"By the time you put in for a paternity order my sister and I will have already come of age and can decide for ourselves whether or not we want anything to do with you," Maruchi said silkily matching his father's arrogance.

Sesshoumaru regarded Maruchi thoughtfully before replying. "Your loyalty to your mother is admirable, but did she tell you why she left me in the first place?"

"It doesn't matter, there's no sense in digging up what's already been buried," Maruchi said wisely.

"Your wisdom comes from my lineage, it will do you well to remember that," Sesshoumaru said regarding his son. "Now, if you don't mind Saphira, I would like to have back what you stole."

Saphira glared at him. "You mean the sword that you thought was worthless and had no value?"

"True enough, but it still belongs to me," he said. Saphira had been in such a hurry to leave the past that she had brought the sword with her to the future. Inumaru and the sword were the only reminders of what had transpired five hundred years before.

Saphira shrugged. "I don't care."

Sesshoumaru glared at her coldly.

"I think that you should be going now," Inumaru said as the sound of tires crunching the gravel in the driveway could be faintly heard.

"A moment with your mother," Sesshoumaru said not taking his eyes off her.

Maruchi began to protest but stopped when Inumaru shook his head. "Come on."

The boys stepped into the living room but were still only a few feet away.

Sesshoumaru leaned towards Saphira and whispered softly into her ear. "I need you, don't you understand?"

As her eyes widened he disappeared from the door and her family came in through the kitchen door. Saphira mentally shook herself out of the daze her former mate had instilled in her.

"Mom!" Nakia called coming into the hallway. "Oh! There you are! Feeling better?"

Saphira smiled weakly at her daughter. "Sorta, what's up?"

Nakia bubbling with energy bounced up to her. "Ami says that there's a club for teens not too far from here. Can I go? Please, Mom!"

Saphira regarded her daughter wearily. "Only if one of your brothers go with you."

"Inumaru! Maruchi!" She called running into the living room. "Rock, paper, scissors to see who has to go with me!"

Saphira heard the boys groan, and then the murmur of 'rock, paper, scissors and couldn't help but smile.

"Inumaru!" Nakia laughed then came back into the hall. "Mom, Inumaru's going with us."

"Okay," Saphira said. "I want to see what you're wearing before you leave."

"Fine," Nakia agreed readily and ran up the stairs to search for an outfit.

A few minutes later she ran down the stairs again. "Mom, can I take a limo?"

"You'll have to pay for it," Saphira said.

"Yes!" Nakia grinned and ran back up the stairs. Inumaru walked lazily out of the living and past Saphira to climb the stairs.

"Keep a close eyes her, Inu," Saphira said.

"We'll have to all talk later," he said looking down at her. "We have a right to know what happened."

"I know," she gulped. "It's-it's hard to talk about it, you know?"

Inumaru only smiled sadly. "The truth usually is."

He made his way up the stairs as Nakia made her way back down. She was wearing a short, shimmering blue, cocktail dress. It was strappy, accenting her graceful neck and shoulders. She wore on her feet silver high heels that shimmered when they caught the light just right.

"Okay," Saphira said approving the dress. "You can do your make-up and hair now."

Nakia grinned and made her way back up the stairs.

"I can never figure out how she runs around in those heels," Saphira grumbled as she sat down next to Maruchi. "How do you always win that game?"

Maruchi grinned as he changed the channels on the T.V. "Inumaru always picks scissors, paper and then rock."

Both Inumaru and Nakia came down the stairs a short while later ready to go. Inumaru had on black dress slacks with a midnight blue, button up, dress shirt. His hair was braided with his bangs falling into his amber eyes.

"You look good, baby," Saphira said standing on her tip toes to kiss him on the cheek.

"Hey! What about me?" Nakia pouted playfully.

"You look good too, honey," Saphira said hugging her. "Be good and don't talk to strangers."

"Yada yada yada," Nakia mocked playfully. "We know, Mom!"

"Just reminding you," Saphira said. "Go on, the limo driver has been beeping his horn for the past five minutes."

Inumaru opened the door for his sister and cousins.

"Take care of her, Inumaru," Saphira said pinching his cheek in a motherly way. "I don't want to have to hurt you."

Inumaru only smiled. "Gotcha."


	3. Dancing with a Stranger

**Chapter 3: Dancing with a Stranger**

The club was loud, dark and hot. Nakia was glad the she had chosen the shortest dress she had. Clubs had the tendency to always be very hot. As they walked the D.J. was spinning the latest American hit, SOS by Rhianna.

"It's a time piece, someone come and rescue me!" The speakers were so loud that the whole place seemed to be vibrating from the bass.

"See ya!" Nakia said winking at Inumaru and making her way to the dance floor. Inumaru nodded and made his way to the bar hoping they had alcoholic drinks. He knew that his sister would head out for the dance floor. It was what she loved. She loved the feel of the crowd and the music beating in the air. She had been dancing since she had started walking. Saphira had put her in ballet classes at three years old. Nakia still took classes when they were in their summer home. It was her dream to attend Juilliard, New York's finest school for dance.

He was about halfway through his third martini when he noticed that everyone on the dance floor had stopped dancing and was cheering a couple on in the center of the crowd. He could see Nakia's red hair flashing when the lights hit her, but he hoped that whoever had decided to take her on was able to keep up. As the cheers got louder he decided to go and investigate the mysterious Asian fellow who could keep up with his sister.

Nakia had been dancing with her cousins when the young man, that reminded her of her brothers approached her.

He smiled and offered to dance with her. She returned the smile and hoped the young man could really dance.

As the music changed, Nakia discovered that the man could dance and matched her step for step, twist for twist. It delighted her to finally find a dancing partner that could keep up.

But it was all interrupted when she felt someone grab her shoulder and pull her away from her dance partner.

"Hey! What's the big id-" Nakia stopped short when she turn to see her brother's angry face. She thought he was about to chastise her for dancing with a stranger, but then she noticed that his anger was directed at the stranger and not her. "Inu? What's wrong?"

"You have no business here," Inumaru growled.

As Nakia looked from the stranger to her brother the similarities were staggering. They could have been brothers. They had those same amber eyes, silver hair, and even the snarl on their lips was the same. Inumaru's eyes though were bigger and rounder, while the stranger's eyes were narrower like Maruchi's.

"Inu, who is this?" Nakia asked nervously, it was a rare occasion when anything or anyone ruffled her oldest brother's feathers.

"Yes, why don't you tell her who I am?" The stranger asked with a voice as smooth as silk.

"We have a date for that later," Inumaru growled. "You will respect your word."

"Don't forget about your promises, boy."

"I am not slow respecting my promises as some may consider slow," Inumaru growled. "But I am patient, waiting for the perfect moment to strike."

"Touché," the stranger smiled, showing off his fangs. Nakia gasped in surprise.

The stranger disappeared through the crowd as the music got louder.

"Wait!" Nakia called starting to run after the man but was stopped by Inumaru.

"No, Nakia," Inumaru said grabbing her.

"Why? He was a brilliant dancer!" Nakia pouted.

"We have to wait until Mom can explain things to us," Inumaru replied but continued at Nakia's confused expression. "Your father is indeed the Great Lord Sesshoumaru, Nakia, and an excellent dancer."

Nakia's eyes widened in surprise.

* * *

"Nakia! It's time to get up!" Saphira called opening the door to the dark, dark room. "It's like a dungeon in here!"

"Mom!" Nakia whined. "I'm still tired!"

"Well, you shouldn't have stayed out all night dancing!" Saphira replied sternly. "I'm surprised that Inumaru waited so long to drag you back here!"

Nakia only groaned in reply and after Saphira left crawled out of bed, and made her way down to the kitchen.

"So, what did you tell her?" Saphira's voice, although lowered, still bounced off the walls.

"I told her that we had to wait and discuss it with you," Inumaru replied sipping his coffee.

"That's it?" Saphira asked skeptically.

"Well, I did hint at something," Inumaru admitted slowly.

"I knew it," Saphira said narrowing her eyes at him. "Can't keep your mouth shut to save your life!"

"What are you talking about?" Nakia asked coming slowly through the doorway.

Saphira whirled around to face her daughter. "How long have you been there?"

"Long enough," Nakia replied yawning. "Are you going to tell me what all the fuss is about?"

"When your brother is here, we will discuss what has happened," Saphira said suddenly tired.

"I'm here now, so let's get on with it," Maruchi said sitting at the table beside his siblings.

"Is the great Lord Sesshoumaru really our dad?" Nakia pipped unable to contain her excitement.

Saphira only glared at Inumaru who shrugged innocently.

"How is that possible?" Maruchi asked. "I mean the guy was around more than seven hundred years ago."

"You know that youkai can live for many many centuries," Saphira yawned. "I traveled through the well back to the Feudal Era of Japan. That's where I met Sesshoumaru, and that's how my mother met Inuyasha."

"My real father?" Inumaru asked.

"Yes, he and Sesshoumaru were brothers," Saphira said.

"Were?" Nakia asked looking at her brother's sad expression. "What happened to him?"

"I don't know Nakia," Saphira said. "All I know is that for many years we lived together in peace until the invaders came. Sesshoumaru was hypnotized or something like that. Then he went on a killing spree and killed Inumaru and my mother."

"How is that possible? If Sesshoumaru killed Inumaru, how is he here right now?" Maruchi asked.

"With this," Saphira said picking up an old rusty sword.

"Is that Tensaiga?" Nakia asked with awe. "How did you wield it?"

"With the help of you and your brother," Saphira said smiling through her tears. "You two gave the power to save one, just one, my mother or Inumaru."

Inumaru looked up at the woman who had raised him. She was his sister, but really a mother.

"My mother had lived her life, and I knew that she would have wanted you to live, sweetie," Saphira said rubbing Inumaru's head.

"So, you don't know what happened to Inuyasha?" Maruchi asked.

"No, I assume he died since he left the Tessaiga here for Inumaru," Saphira said with a shrug. "Only Sesshoumaru would know what really happened to Inuyasha."

"I didn't kill him, if that's what you all think," the voice came from the hallway. They all turned to see the man that was their father. The man that had driven their mother away from the past and into the future.

Nakia inhaled sharply, but said nothing.

Saphira sipped her coffee quietly, she had known that he had been waiting in the hallway for the right time to come into the conversation.

"So, what happened?" Maruchi asked without feeling.

"When the invaders came your mother, Inuyasha and I all went out to challenge them," Sesshoumaru began leaning against the door frame. "The invaders brought along a sorceress from the mainland..."

_Sesshoumaru knew as soon as the dust hit his eyes that he would be out of control. The scent of the dust gave it away, by the time his brain had caught up with his nose it had been too late. _

_Saphira had looked at him with terror, but he saw her through blood red, jaded eyes._

_"Sesshoumaru?" Inuyasha had asked approaching him cautiously._

_Sesshoumaru had only growled, baring his canine teeth._

_"What have you done to him?" Saphira demanded pulling her katana out of its sheath with the sing of metal._

_"We've only bent him to our will," Shuhan, the general of the invading army, smiled innocently. _

_"Now, go and kill!" Screeched the voice from the shadows._

_Sesshoumaru had quickly changed into his orb and flew off in the direction of the western lands._

_He remembered seeing his servants approach him frantic for news of the invaders. He had cut them all down before they could realize that he was not himself. He made his way through the castle, cutting down anyone who stood in his path. Eventually he made it into the nursery. _

_Catching sight of his brother's mate and pup he let out a feral snarl. His nephew had leapt up from his mother's lap to greet him, only to be cut down by Toukijin._

_Kagome let out a scream of horror running to the body of her child. The blood quickly soaked through the kimono she had been wearing._

_That's when Saphira had burst into the room. He could see the color drain away from her face as she watched her mother mourning over the child's dead body. Sesshoumaru's mind screamed out for her to run, that he was not in control._

_"No!" Saphira cried running to her mother's side._

_"Oh, God, why?" Kagome cried clinging to the body of her child._

_But Sesshoumaru's body was in control and was looming over them, raising Toukijin into the air._

_"No! Stop this Sesshoumaru! Snap out of it!" Saphira had screamed tackling him, but not before he managed to kill Kagome with his poison whip._

_"Oh, God!" Saphira screamed, Sesshoumaru's body was about to finish her when a bright light suspended his body. _

_The next thing he was conscious of was Saphira raising Tensaiga over Inumaru's body and slicing through the gate keepers from hell._

_Sesshoumaru growled in fury as his prey was reawakened and brought back to life. He reached for Saphira with his poison claws but she was too quick. She snatched up Inumaru's body and jumped out the window transforming to her dragon form._

_He watched as she out flew him to the well, his mind cheered for her success. As she stood on the lip of the well she threw one last look over her shoulder, one that haunted him everyday after she had gone._

_He growled but that look had somehow broken the spell he had been under. Before he could shout to her to stop she had leapt into the depths of the well. He had hurried back to aid his brother in the fight against the invaders. But since he was now a full blooded youkai he could no longer wield Tessaiga without burning his hands. He had been left virtually defenseless, he did not have the same training that Sesshoumaru himself had had. The enemy made short work of his brother almost killing him. By the time Sesshoumaru arrived and destroyed the invaders, Inuyasha was on the brink of death. And gone with Saphira was Tensaiga, the only thing that could have saved his brother's life._

Saphira looked at Inumaru as Sesshoumaru's side of the story came to a close. She had taken the Tensaiga with them when she had crossed over.

"It's not your fault, Mom," Inumaru said quietly. "Shit happens."

Nakia and Maruchi suppressed identical smirks of amusement. Sesshoumaru watched them from the corner of his eye.

Maruchi, who missed nothing, said. "That still doesn't explain why you didn't come around until now."

"What have you been doing all this time?" Inumaru question holding Sesshoumaru's eyes.

"Watching from a distant," his comment made the hair on the back of Saphira's neck stand up.

"You had no right to snoop around," Saphira said haughtily. "You should have just made yourself known."

Sesshoumaru contemplated her comment for a moment before replying. "I didn't want to force myself on you. You were mourning the loss of Kagome."

"You know damn well that I will never stop grieving for her," Saphira whispered fiercely.

"Would you have wanted to see the face of your mother's killer while the wound was still fresh?" Sesshoumaru asked quietly.

The children looked at the two adults and then at each other. In unspoken agreement they got up to give them privacy.

Saphira's eyes flickered to her children as they politely and quietly left the room. Sesshoumaru could smell her pride.

"You brought them up well," he commented once they were gone.

Saphira didn't answer, sighed and sat down in a vacant chair.

"Why now, Sesshoumaru?" She asked looking at him with glistening eyes.

"I made a promise to myself when Inuyasha died," Sesshoumaru said thoughtfully looking out the window. "That when I reached you, if you were still single by the time the children reached adulthood, then I would pursue a relationship with you and with them. If you had found someone, then I would have remained in the shadows."

Saphira hissed. "You know as well as I do that the mating mark does not allow for that. Not until one of us is dead."

"I would have released you from our bond," Sesshoumaru said shrugging.

"It cannot be done," Saphira dismissing his explanation.

"It doesn't matter anyway, because you are still single despite the many attempts for your hand," Sesshoumaru smirked just as his children did.

"It makes me sick sometimes to see how much they resemble you," Saphira said with mock disgust.

"It makes me sick to see that Inumaru looks just like my father, while my own children resemble him only faintly," Sesshoumaru said easily.

"Why are you really here, Sesshoumaru?" Saphira asked, suddenly tired of verbally parring with him.

Sesshoumaru sighed sitting down across from her. "I love you, Saphira. Watching you all these years, keeping my distance and giving you your space has nearly destroyed me. I was even there when you gave birth to the twins because I couldn't with the guilt of not being there when they came into the world."

Saphira's eyes snapped to his.

He shrugged. "I'm a doctor, you know."

"That still doesn't explain why you were in the delivery room!" She hissed.

"Your doctor was a colleague at the time," Sesshoumaru said smiling. "All I had to do was start an argument on whether or not brain surgery was more stressful than delivering a child. He, of course, offered to allow me to sit in on a delivery if I allowed him into the O.R."

"So it just happened that my delivery was the one you chose?" Saphira asked in disbelief.

"Timing is everything, and I happen to be a youkai that can tell when a female is about to pop," Sesshoumaru said with a gleam in his eye.

Saphira sighed. "You were there, so what?"

"I cut their cord too," Sesshoumaru said. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Tell you what?" Saphira said as she rubbed her forehead which was beginning to throb.

"That you were carrying twins?" He asked quietly.

Saphira looked at the sadness in his eyes and felt bad.

"I meant to," she whispered.


	4. Nakia's Heart

**Chapter 4: Nakia's Heart**

"So, our old man's a surgeon, huh?" Maruchi said raising a brow.

"Delicate work for an assassin," Inumaru murmured turning the newspaper he was reading to the next page.

They were all sitting on the couch, listening to their mother's conversation with their supposed father.

"Are you really going to fight him, Inumaru?" Nakia asked almost fearfully.

"What are you afraid of?" Maruchi asked catching a whiff of his twin's fear.

"Yes, Nakia, and there is nothing to be afraid of," Inumaru said trying to soothe his baby sister's fears.

"But he has way more experience than you do, Inu!" Nakia said shrilly.

"Nakia!" Maruchi hissed. "Shut up before someone walks in on us!"

Nakia stuck her tongue out at him and a moment later someone did walk in the room.

"Akio!" Maruchi cheered glad for a distraction. "What is that?"

Akio was carrying a clear container with something in it. "Oh this? It's a pinkie."

"It looks like a baby mouse," Maruchi said taking a closer look.

"Pinkies are baby mice," Akio explained.

"Oh! It's so cute!" Nakia said reaching into the container to pick it up. It barely had any fur and its eyes and ears were still closed. It only peeped when she cuddled it to her chest. "What a sweet mousie!"

Maruchi and Akio exchanged looks as they watched Nakia hold, cuddle and coo over the pinkie.

"How are you going to feed?" Nakia said with wide eyes looking up at her cousin.

"Err.." Akio grunted.

"Nakia, he is going to feed it to his python upstairs," Inumaru said not looking away from the paper.

"WHAT!" Nakia shrieked backing up and away from Akio. "Why? Why would you do that?"

"Snake's gotta eat," Maruchi said shrugging.

"You're going to feed this poor, defenseless, baby mouse to a damn snake?" Nakia demanded her eyes starting to well up with tears.

"Err, yes," Akio answered. "That's what they're bred for, Coz."

Nakia looked down at the warm little ball of life she was holding in her hand, and the tears slipped down her cheeks.

Saphira and Sesshoumaru, smelling the tears and sensing the tension, entered the room.

"What's going on?" Saphira demanded. "Nakia, honey, what's wrong?"

"They're going to feed this baby mouse to their dumb snake!" Nakia sobbed.

Saphira hugged her daughter while shooting a dirty look to the three boys.

Akio shrugged helplessly. "The snake has to eat something."

Nakia pulled away from Saphira and fled, with mouse in hand, into the kitchen.

"What were you thinking?" Saphira hissed fiercely. "You know how sensitive she is!"

"Cousin Saphy, if I had known I wouldn't have let her see," Akio said guiltily.

"Sweetie, I don't blame you," Saphira said giving her cousin a sympathetic look. "But _they_ know better!" At the word 'they' she promptly shot both Inumaru and Maruchi looks that could kill somebody.

"Jeez, Mom, it's not like we did it on purpose," Maruchi grumbled.

Sesshoumaru watched this exchange with interest, but as they continued to argue he wandered back into the kitchen. His daughter was cowering at the table sobbing over a baby mouse.

He sighed at his misfortune.

"I..." hiccup, "...I know that..." hiccup, "...this is the way life is supposed to be," Nakia whispered tearfully. "But, it's-it's just a baby, it doesn't have any chance at all."

Sesshoumaru regarded his daughter, whom he knew next to nothing about, thoughtfully.

Before he could comment though, Nakia got up, brushed past him and back into the living room. She shoved the mouse in at Akio and then left through the front door.

Saphira only growled in frustration. "Feed the damn snake before she gets back."

She went into the hallway and started to put her coat on, but stopped when someone touched her shoulder. She looked up into Sesshoumaru's silent face. "What?"

"Let me go get her," he said reasonably.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Saphira said bluntly. "She's not like you or me. Her heart is very tender, and her soul is compassionate, something she probably inherited from my mother. But, that aside, I'm not going to let you go to her and tell her how she should be strong and how she shouldn't care about something as insignificant as a damn mouse."

"Whatever made you think I would do such a thing?" Sesshoumaru asked innocently raising his brows.

"Call it intuition," Saphira grumbled. "Fine, go, but if you screw around with her I'll gut you and hang your balls from the shrine rafters."

"When did you become so violent?" Sesshoumaru asked politely.

"When I had kids," Saphira growled. "Get out of here before I change my mind."

Sesshoumaru opened the door and closed it softly behind him. Nakia's scent waifed through, but it was mingled in with the smell nicotine and tobacco.

Nakia was sitting under the tree that Sesshoumaru was sure Inuyasha had been sealed to.

"You know those are bad for you," he said walking up behind her.

Her only response was to move away and take another drag.

"Don't know why you would all of a sudden," Nakia replied as blew the smoke out. "I'm sure you were there when I picked the habit up."

He had been.

Lurking on the edges of his children's lives he had watched as his fourteen year old daughter bullied a convenience store clerk into selling her her first pack.

"And if I was?" Sesshoumaru asked plucking the cigarette out of her mouth and tossing it to the ground.

"Should have stopped me then," she replied with a shrug pulling out another cigarette from the pack in her pocket.

"I don't know how you can stand the smell of those," he said wrinkling his nose in displeasure.

"Just lucky I guess," Nakia said with another shrug, then turned away from him. "See you later."

"Where are you going?" He almost demanded.

Nakia looked back at him with a toothy grin. "To find my next supplier."

God help him if his only daughter snuffed cocaine. "Excuse me?"

Nakia sighed. "It was a joke, old man."

Sesshoumaru frowned at letting his guard down so quickly.

"...we're not like you," Nakia was saying, but he had missed the beginning.

"What?"

"I said, 'don't hurt my brother, we're not like you'," Nakia said challenging him to question her again..

"Are you referring to the relationship I had with Inuyasha?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Maybe," Nakia grinned reminding him of Saphira. "Maybe not."

She walked away and down the steps of the shrine. He wondered if he should follow her or not.

"She has to be alone sometimes," came a voice from behind, Sesshoumaru turned to see Maruchi regarding him carefully.

"Probably gets that from me," Sesshoumaru murmured.

"Hey! Are you ready to fight yet?" Inumaru's challenging voice bounced off the shrine buildings.

The boy reminded him instantly of Inuyasha and his loud obnoxious ways of running wildly into battle.

"Surely you don't intend on fighting me here?" Sesshoumaru asked letting his mask of boredom slip into place.

"Do you really think I'm an idiot?" Inumaru asked raising an eyebrow.

Sesshoumaru thought about mentioning Inuyasha, but decided against it.

"I have rented a dojo an the edge of town," Inumaru said walking up to the tall silver haired man that was his uncle. Tessaiga was casually tucked through the belt Inumaru was wearing, and hanging on his hip.

As Sesshoumaru looked down at his nephew he didn't see the image of Inuyasha, but instead the image of his own father.

"Who is coming to witness the fight?" Sesshoumaru asked turning away from his son and nephew.

"I am," pipped Maruchi.

"Me too!" Called Akio jogging from the house.

"I think Nakia said she was going to meet us there?" Maruchi said looking towards Inumaru for confirmation.

"Yeah," Inumaru said.

"I'm coming too," a women's voice said from behind them.

"Mom!" Maruchi whined. "You don't know anything about fighting.

Sesshoumaru began to snort at his son's comment.

"I don't think that's the issue here," Saphira said eying her former mate. "Besides, Maruchi, you're still a minor and need adult supervision."

Maruchi groaned but said nothing else.

"I'll drive," Akio volunteered. "You gonna follow us?"

Sesshoumaru nodded and turned toward the stairs to walk to where his car was parked, but realized that someone was at his elbow.

"Aren't you riding with the boys?" He asked.

Saphira sighed. "No, it'll just ruin all their prep talk on the way there."

They made their way down the stairs to the street where a beat up, old Mercedes Benz was sitting.

Saphira's jaw dropped as Sesshoumaru approached the car pulling out his keys.

"You're a surgeon and driving a 1983 Mercedes Benz? That car is an antique!" Saphira said almost afraid to pull the door handle to to open the door.

"Do you actually think I would drive my new car car down here, park it on the street and hope to return to it unharmed?" Sesshoumaru asked eying her.

Saphira sighed. "I guess you have a point."

She opened the door carefully and was surprised to not hear it creaking open. She settled down in the old leather seat and buckled her seat belt.

"Afraid of my driving?" Sesshoumaru asked grinning.

"If you drive like you fly we're all doomed," Saphira said darkly. Sesshoumaru only laughed and turned the ignition. The motor rumbled to life easily without a hitch.

"Did you replace the engine?" Saphira asked suspiciously.

"Yes I did," Sesshoumaru smiled pleased with himself and with Saphira for noticing. "I did it myself, with supervision of course."

Saphira rolled her eyes, she had never been one to get her hands dirty when she could just buy a new car, but she reflected that Sesshoumaru was one that liked to get down and dirty. Unlike the ancient hanyou, Naraku, who had others do his dirty work.

"You didn't come with me to tell me to go easy on him, did you?" Sesshoumaru asked interrupting her thoughts.

She laughed so hard that her eyes began to water.

"No...no," she breathed deeply trying to stop laughed. "I was going to tell you to take him out as fast as you could."

"Why is that?"

She looked at him, her face turning serious. "He is an expert swordsman, Sesshoumaru, nothing like Inuyasha. I didn't know the legends of Inutaisho, if I had I would probably be assuring you that Inumaru was surpassing even your father's legacy."

Sesshoumaru looked at her, contemplating whether or not Saphira was being serious. She seemed to be, and she, like her mother, was not one to exaggerate.

"There are the boys," Saphira pointed spotting their car passing them.

Sesshoumaru pulled out smoothly following the car full of rowdy boys.

"What sword will you fight with?" Saphira asked politely.

"Toukijin," he replied.

"Still have that sword, huh?" She said smiling, remember the incident when the sword's evil aura had overtaken her senses.

"When exactly do you plan on returning my father's sword to me?" Sesshoumaru asked turning on his blinker while waiting at a red light.

"Sooner or later," Saphira answered vaguely.

Sesshoumaru's sigh sounded familiar, but Saphira busied herself looking out the window. The flow of traffic slowed down, and the space between cars began to close, Saphira rolled her window down. Then she began pushing the buttons on the dash board, smiling when she found the switch to the sun roof.

"You've cut your hair," Sesshoumaru commented.

It was true, Saphira's hair no longer reached down to her knees. Instead it was in a short bob cut and the ends were curling. She had actually gotten it because some famous celebrity over in the States had divorced her husband and had come out the relationship with a new do and a new man.

"And?" Saphira asked turning and raising her brows at him.

"It looks good," he said turning his gaze back to the road. After a few more minutes they came to the outskirts of town, and followed the boys into a parking lot that belonged to an older gym. A limousine was sitting in the parking lot and as they pulled in Nakia stepped out looking like movie star. She was actually decently covered, dressed in black leather with the big sunglasses to go with the look.

She turned her head away from them to take one last drag off her cigarette before flicking the butt to the ground. Saphira, who was busy inspecting the building, didn't seem to notice. Sesshoumaru, however, did see and frowned in disapproval. As she approached her brothers, cousin, and parents she had not one whiff of tobacco on her. It was like the smell that Sesshoumaru knew had been there not five seconds before had vanished.

"Alright, let's get this show on the road!" Maruchi exclaimed walking with his brother and cousin towards the door. As he neared Nakia he put an arm around her sniffing the air delicately before smiling at her. Sesshoumaru watched them suspiciously as he got his sword from the trunk of the car and followed them into the gym.

As he entered the building behind everyone else, he was surprised to find no one waiting for them at the reception desk. Instead the boys lead the way down the hall into a large room where humans played basket ball. Saphira, the twins and Akio seated themselves in the bleachers. Sesshoumaru walked to the opposite side of the court before turning to face his opponent.

He pulled Toukijin out with a sing of metal.

Inumaru pulled Tessaiga from its sheath silently.

In an unspoken agreement they began to attack.

For a moment Sesshoumaru saw Inuyasha flying towards him in an unplanned, wild attack. But as soon as Inumaru swung at his knees with Tessaiga, Sesshoumaru knew that there was no relation between Inumaru's fighting and Inuyasha's.

Inumaru launched a frenzy of attack backing off when Sesshoumaru summoned his poison whip. Inumaru pulled Tessaiga's sheath to block the sickly green whip. As soon as the whip wrapped around the sheath, Inumaru jerked it backwards pulling Sesshoumaru forward. While he was trying to regain his balance, Inumaru began an onslaught of attacks, beating against Toukijin with Tessaiga. Sesshoumaru quickly regained his footing sending Inumaru running with a wave of dark energy from Toukijin.

Although the energy had sent Inumaru on the defense, he quickly summoned "kazu no kizu".

Saphira gasped. "The attack that kill a hundred demons!"

Nakia looked at her mother startled. "What?"

"That attack, kazu no kizu, can kill a hundred demons with one swing," Saphira explained in quiet awe. She knew that it had taken Inuyasha a long while to figure out the secret attack. Sesshoumaru was even more surprised, he was so caught off guard that he was almost hit by the blast.

"Shit it's going straight for the wall!" Maruchi shouted moving quickly to absorb the wall of energy. He put his hands together and then pulled them apart revealing a bright blue light. He grinned as he caught Sesshoumaru's surprised glance. Maruchi pulled his hands farther apart and then threw the purifying energy at kazu no kiza's energy wave. The blast was instantly purified.

Inumaru moved to take advantage of Sesshoumaru's distracted attention, but before he could swing the sword of destruction a whip, sickly green, wrapped itself around the sword preventing him from swinging.

"Enough, Inumaru," Nakia said, almost lazily. "He has proven himself worthy for the moment, although I believe I will reserve judgment."

Inumaru grinned a toothy grin at his baby sister. "If you insist."

The whip faded away and Inumaru sheathed his weapon.

"Jesus, Inumaru you almost destroyed the place," Akio grinned jumping down from the bleachers and running to his cousin's side.

"Not on purpose," Inumaru grinned.

Sesshoumaru was slowly sheathing his own weapon when his former mate and children approached him.

"You both have purifying powers?" He asked raising his brows.

Nakia grinned and Maruchi nodded.

"Do both of you possess the ability to form the whip?" He questioned.

"Just me," Nakia said proudly.

Sesshoumaru turned his surprised eyes towards her. "Can you demonstrate?"

"Sure."

"Not here," Saphira said exasperated. "Go outside and damage the trees."

They all made their way outside and away from the building.

Nakia held her hand out and away from her body as she summoned the whip. As she pulled it across the air in front of her she rose to stand on her tip toes. She then spun making the air sizzle with the crack of her whip.

Sesshoumaru could have sworn that she was copying something he done in his youth, but she had never seen him in the Feudal Era. There was no doubt in his mind that his children would far surpass him in skill and talent. The urge to be a part of their lives was stronger than ever. And as he looked back at Saphira, who was smiling smugly, he hoped there would be more children like Nakia and Maruchi.


	5. Enter Yasuo

**Chapter Five: Enter Yasuo**

Nakia pounded down the stairs and into the kitchen. She was wearing a lacy spaghetti strapped tank top with a pair of torn jeans. She was wearing a red bra that would tease any man looking at her. At the moment it was irritating her father to no end.

"Maruchi!" She called ignoring her father's withering glare. "It's our day!"

Sesshoumaru's attention was momentarily pulled from his daughter's red lined cleavage.

Maruchi looked up at his sister from the noodles he was wolfing down. "Really?"

"Yup! I have a special day planned for us!" She said spreading a map of the city out on the table. "There are several museums here that feature artifacts from the Feudal Era."

"Why bother when there's a relict sitting in our kitchen?" Maruchi asked eying his father.

"Oh, ha ha," Nakia said sarcastically. "You picked out what we did last month, this month is my turn."

"Fine, whatever," Maruchi shrugged focusing his eyes back on his noodles.

"May I accompany you on this outing?" Sesshoumaru asked sure that he wouldn't be allowed.

"Nope, sorry, Pops," Nakia said with a grin. "Me and my brother have a special day every month that we spend doing things together. I have one with Inumaru and Mom too."

"Before you ask the answer is no, I'm not insane," Maruchi said coming up for air.

"It was Nakia who started harping on us all spending quality time together," Saphira said bringing her coffee to the table.

"Does this mean the you and I will have a special day also?" Sesshoumaru asked turning to his daughter.

"If you want," she said shrugging then pulling out her digital planner. "I'm free on Monday."

"That is a week from now," Sesshoumaru protested. "How can you have a whole week booked up already?"

"I'm a busy busy bee," Nakia grinned then proceeded to pound on her brother's arm. "Come on Maruchi! Let's go!"

"Fine! Fine!" He replied stuffing the last bit of his noodles into his already full mouth.

Nakia strolled out of the room and into the hallway to put her shoes on.

"Do you need me to call a cab?" Saphira asked from her place beside Sesshoumaru.

"No! We're walking!" Nakia called back.

"I hope she is wearing decent shoes," Saphira murmured into her coffee.

"I heard that!" Nakia grumbled loudly.

Saphira only smiled. Maruchi in the meantime, had thrown his bowl into the sink and had his head in the refrigerator.

"Maruchi!" Nakia called impatiently.

"Coming, coming!" Maruchi said hurrying out of the kitchen chewing on something.

"My son is a pig and my daughter is a dancer," Sesshoumaru said sadly, shaking his head.

"What's wrong with being a pig?" Inumaru asked sitting down with a bowl of noodles.

Sesshoumaru groaned and Saphira laughed.

"So, Mom, what are your plans for the day?" Inumaru asked politely.

"I have to go see Grand Mama," Saphira said.

"Would you like me to accompany you?" Was his next query.

"Only if you want to," Saphira replied.

"How is Grand Mere taking to the chemo treatments?" Inumaru asked knowing the if he asked his human relatives they would not tell him, instead they would want to spare him any pain by keeping him ignorant.

"As well as can be expected, chemo kills off the bad cells and then starts on the good ones," Saphira replied. "I'm sure she will get worse later on as the chemo proceeds."

"Have they given her a diagnosis?"

"Hodgkin's Disease," Saphira said a tear slipping from her eye.

"Ah."

Inumaru looked at his mother's fallen tear, he remembered the last time she had cried. They were leaving Tokyo, and planning on traveling for a while before the twins were born and then settling in America. She had cried everyday they had spent in Tokyo, and had cried for several days after they had left. He supposed that she had still been mourning the death of their mother, and since the wound was still fresh everything in Tokyo reminded her of Kagome. Inumaru could barely remember his real mother. He had glimpses of a laughing, black haired women with warm eyes. The only memory he had of is father was a man dressed in red with silver hair blowing across his covered face. He supposed that Sesshoumaru looked an awful lot like his father since they were half brothers, but he would never truly know what his father looked like.

"Inu."

The voice of his mother pulled him from his musings. "Yes?"

"Are you coming to the hospital with me?" Saphira asked, her eyes darting between him and Sesshoumaru.

"Of course," Inumaru answered. "Are you coming as well, Sesshoumaru?"

"If that is your mother's wish," Sesshoumaru said catching Saphira's eyes.

"I don't care either way," Saphira declared. "We're leaving in ten minutes, Inu, so finish your noodles."

Inumaru began to shovel food into his mouth, reminding Sesshoumaru of his brother.

* * *

Maruchi and Nakia walked quietly side by side down the busy Tokyo street.

"So, where are you taking me?" Maruchi asked breaking the silence between them.

"I'm seeing someone," Nakia said casually. Maruchi stopped in his tracks.

"His name is Jamie," Nakia continued as if Maruchi hadn't reacted at all. "He is twenty one and lives in the States."

"Demon or human?" Maruchi managed to ask.

"Demon, dog demon," Nakia answered. "Actually we're probably distantly related, descended from one of our father's long lost relatives. A cousin or something like that, his family went into hiding after Inutashio took on a human mistress. They're currently in Scotland."

"We don't know if she were a mistress or if she was his mate," Maruchi argued.

"Well, whatever she was, she caused rebellion that our father ended up having to squash himself," Nakia reasoned. "Since Jamie's ancestors couldn't rely on Sesshoumaru's protection they fled to the continent and into hiding."

"Very interesting," Maruchi said. "Where did you meet him?"

"Oh here and there," Nakia answered vaguely.

Maruchi growled a warning.

"Fine, fine, we met at a dance audition a year ago in Manhattan. He's been trying to get into Juilliard since he graduated from high school. Every year he tries out, but gets rejected. Anyhow, he's been going to Yale in the meantime. He's father wants him to become a lawyer, apparently his father admires Mama," Nakia said proudly.

"Hm," Maruchi grunted. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

"Do you really think I'm that stupid?" Nakia asked raising her brows at him. "I don't want you and Inu to go and threaten his life if things aren't going to work out."

"So, things are working out?" Maruchi asked.

"Well, yes, actually he wants to propose," Nakia gushed.

Maruchi cringed at his sister's tone. "You do realize that he'll have to duel with Sesshoumaru in order to formally court you, right?"

"Yes, yes," she said waving her hand dismissively.

"You know what that means? He can't be ready to propose yet! If he is that means that you two have already been courting and Sesshoumaru will know!" Maruchi said with urgency as they climbed the steps to a museum.

"Oh, he probably already knows!" Nakia shot back.

"I doubt it, if he did he would have throttled 'Jamie' a year ago," Maruchi said darkly. "Besides you couldn't have spent too much time with him since neither me or Inu had a clue."

"I guess you're right. We did spend most our time emailing and talking on the phone," Nakia agreed.

"We're students do we get in free?" Maruchi asked the man at the desk in the foyer of the museum.

"No."

"Discounted tickets?" Maruchi prodded.

"No."

"Asshole," Nakia murmured as Maruchi paid the man to get into the museum.

"So, have you met his family yet?" Maruchi asked as they entered the main hallway of the museum.

"Uh."

"Uh?"

"Isn't this a nice piece of artwork?" Nakia asked stopping in front of a huge canvas.

"Nakia."

"What?" She looked at him innocently.

"Tell me."

"Well, his family are purebreds and have this thing about hanyous," Nakia said slowly.

Maruchi groaned. "There is still that sort of prejudice in the world?"

"Apparently it is quite common with full bloods," Nakia. "Don't you remember why Mom took us out of that private school for demon children?"

"Because the food was unhealthy?" Maruchi asked not sure at all why their mother took them out of the first school they ever went to.

"You must have repressed the memories. The kids tried to beat us up all the time and called us 'Mud bloods'. I can't believe you don't remember," Nakia said.

"Hey, what my mind decides to repress is none of my business," Maruchi argued. "Hey look at this!"

He was standing before a rusty old sword from the Feudal Era, that's identification card read 'Tessaiga'.

"Tee-hee! It's a fake!" Maruchi giggled madly.

"I wonder how much they were conned for it," Nakia wondered.

"Actually, the curator bought that from a shrine for cheap," a voice said behind them.

"You still paid money for a fake sword," Maruchi grinned turning to face the voice.

The man, rather demon, regarded them with a questioning gaze. "Just how did you know it was a fake to begin with?"

Nakia cleared her throat. "We have indisputable knowledge to guarantee our assumption."

"Besides, you just admitted it was a cheap replica," Maruchi pointed out. "Therefore, even if our own assumption was under false pretenses, you just confirmed it to be true."

"I would expect no less of a legally garbled answer from the children of Saphira Ryuji," the demon smiled.

Both Nakia and Maruchi smiled in return as the demon's disguise fell away to reveal one of their family's oldest friends. He was also a dragon youkai that had been distantly related to their grandfather. He had actually pursued their mother for many years to no avail. He then graciously accepted the title of 'uncle', knowing that was as close as he would get.

"Uncle Yasuo, why are you just now making an appearance?" Maruchi asked. "How come you didn't show up when Sesshoumaru did?"

Yasuo snorted. "Do you think I'm a fool? You're father would have killed any man sniffing around his mate."

"Uh, what about a few years ago when you and Mom were dating?" Nakia asked slyly.

"Well, he hadn't made his intentions known," Yasuo explained.

"So, Mom was free game until Sesshoumaru showed up?" Maruchi asked.

"Pretty much, you two looking forward to some new siblings?" Yasuo asked wickedly.

"Uh, man! Why did you have to go and ruin my day like that?" Maruchi complained.

"Well, if they do 'renew', as the humans like to say, their mating vows then I don't see how you two aren't going to have more siblings," Yasuo laughed. "I don't think Sesshoumaru is going to be able to keeps his paws off your mother if they do renew their mating."

"I wanted to stay the baby!" Nakia whined.

"Besides, girly, what is this I hear about you having a new play toy?" Yasuo asked raising his brows. "I checked into his family and I don't like what I saw."

"And just what don't you like?" Nakia asked scornfully.

"Well, Jamie's older sister, Ann, is a crazy hoe that has a couple illegitimate pups," Yasuo said ticking off his fingers. "The mother is psychotic, the father is an overbearing pervert, and there are many many siblings. Five in all, I believe."

"So?"

"Yeah, who cares if the sister has illegitimate pups?" Maruchi asked. "Isn't that normal nowadays?"

"Normal for humans, perhaps, but the pups aren't only illegitimate they're also very mixed," Yasuo said darkly.

"We're mixed too," Nakia said defending the pups.

"But you're not mixed with the lowest, human scum on the planet," Yasuo said with disgust.

"I thought you said that his parents aren't crazy about the hanyou stuff?" Maruchi asked.

"They aren't, that's why they disowned the daughter," Yasuo said.

"So why is she a problem?" Maruchi asked clearly confused.

"Bad blood, my boy, she's proof that the family itself has bad blood," Yasuo said. "Probably from inbreeding, they were trying to stay pure blooded and at one point the only time to do that was to inbreed."

"Gross!" Maruchi coughed.

"There is nothing wrong with him!" Nakia argued.

"Nothing that you've discovered yet," Yasuo said. "I wish you would listen to me, but I know you won't. So, I'll give you some advice. If he ever lays a paw on you, leave him even if you heavy with a pup. All is lost if a male begins to beat on his mate."

"Why is that?" Maruchi asked.

"Males are supposed to treat their mates like their own flesh. Whoever beats his mate is beating himself," Yasuo said. "Come on, let's get this show on the road!"

The twins sighed and followed their uncle deeper into the museum.

* * *

Saphira fought off the tears as she looked down at her grandmother. The human, fighting for her life, lay in the bed breathing heavily. Every few minutes she would sigh out aloud. Saphira found comfort in the sound, it let her know that the old woman was still alive.

But, her grandmother was much thinner than she remembered. Her shriveled arms and hands made the human look like she already had one foot in the grave

The hospital was unlike the ones Saphira had avoided in her youth. Instead of being sterile and cold, her grandmother's room was bright and warm. On the nightstand beside the bed were photographs of her family. Saphira leaned over to examine the last photograph she had sent her Tokyo family. It was of her and the three kids at their Florida home in the States.

"Hello, Mrs. Higurashi!" Boomed an older man coming through the door after tapping briefly.

Saphira caught the growl in her throat before it erupted.

"You must be the family! Are you the daughter?" He asked turning to look at Saphira.

"No," she said tightly. "I'm her granddaughter, Saphira."

"Ah, the lawyer," the doctor smiled. "And I already know your son, Inumaru. Is this your husband?"

Time stopped for a moment when the doctor asked the question looking at Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru said nothing allowing Saphira to answer as she pleased.

"Yes," Saphira answered after she debated with herself. "Sesshoumaru."

"Nice to meet you, Sesshoumaru," the doctor said. "There's a brain surgeon over in the States with that same name. Are you and he the same person?"

"Yes."

"Well then, Doctor, I will allow you to translate all the medical mambo-jumbo to your wife and son," the doctor smiled. "Mrs. Higurashi is suffering from a type of stage four lymphoma known as Hodgkin's Disease. As soon as her condition stabilizes we're going to give her a sample of medicinerelated to the chemo to see how her body reacts to it. If all goes well, we'll start her in chemo therapy for the next six to seven months. By then the cancer will hopefully be gone."

The doctor then busied himself checking medical charts and with a wave of goodbye left the room.

Saphira turned glassy eyes to Sesshoumaru. "I have no need for you to translate."

Sesshoumaru only nodded and turned his attention back towards the television.

* * *

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" The woman was wearing too much make up. Her eyes were dark with eyeliner and her lips too red. Her pale skin was plastered in foundation and she smelled of cheap purfume.

"I don't know why you wear that stuff," a male voice wheezed. "Of course this is a good idea. Nakia needs support while her great grandmother is in the hospital."

The woman merely shifted the weight of youngling on her hip. The child was no more than a year old. They were standing on the steps of an old shrine in the middle of the afternoon.

"Why couldn't she just come to Scotland for support?" The woman continued to whine.

The male sighed deciding to ignore her, but stood as he heard voices approaching. "She's here!"

Nakia and Maruchi were making their way up the steps with Yasuo when Nakia caught a familiar scent and looked up.

"Jamie!"She shrieked and sprinted up the stairs to meet him.

They embraced with Nakia asking, "What are you doing here?"

"He wanted to come and give you his support," the female answered with irritation.

"Is this your sister? And her pup?" Nakia asked with excitement. "It's so nice to meet you!"

"The same here," Ann grumbled. "You can hold her if you want."

"What is her name?" Nakia asked as Ann handed over the youngling.

"Nevaeh," the mother answered.

The youngling took an immediate liking to Nakia.

"Oh, Jamie, this is my twin brother, Maruchi and my Uncle Yasuo," Nakia said introducing the two.

"Nice to meet you," Maruchi said politely shaking Jamie's hand. Yasuo followed suite.

"Uh, Nakia? Could I talk to you for a minute?" Maruchi asked smiling at the two visitors.

"Sure," Nakia answered allowing her twin to drag her off.

Once they were a good distance away, Maruchi began whispering. "Are you insane? What if Sesshoumaru comes here and smells Jamie's scent on you?"

"What is he going to do? Demand that Jamie fight him right then and there?" Nakia asked rolling her eyes. "Please, our Dad can't be that psychotic."

"Nakia, sweetheart, who are those people?" Saphira asked approaching her daughter who was holding a strange youngling.

"Uh-oh," Maruchi breathed catching sight of his tall father. "You're done for."

"Well," Nakia began reflecting that telling the truth couldn't bite her in the ass. "The guy is sorta my boyfriend, Jamie, and the girl is his sister, Ann. And this is her pup, Nevaeh."

Her mother looked more upset over the pup's name than the announcement of Nakia's boyfriend. "Nevaeh? Nevaeh as in heaven backwards?"

"Yup," Ann said walking over. Her strange accent made Saphira throw up her guard quickly. The girl was foreign, but that didn't bother her. She talked as if she were trying to be something she wasn't, using a dialect that didn't belong to her kind. "An angel came to me in a dream and told me to her that."

Saphira fought to keep herself from raising her eyebrows. Youkai didn't believe in angels, for this youkai to name her pup after a place that only humans believed in spoke volumes.

"You are aware that according to the human's Bible only two persons were ever named by God through angels," Sesshoumaru said sensing his mate's discomfort. "Jesus himself, and John the Baptizer."

"I know that!" Ann said immediately getting defensive, she snatched the baby out of Nakia's arms. "I can name my child whatever I want!"

"No one is disputing that," Sesshoumaru said smoothly. "What is this I hear about you having a boyfriend, Nakia?"

Maruchi groaned loudly.


	6. The British Are Coming!

**Chapter Six: The British Are Coming!**

Nakia ignored her long absent father's question. "Mama, do you think Jamie and his sister can stay for dinner?"

Saphira looked at her pup, who was gazing up at her with big amber eyes. Saphira didn't like the sister of her pup's boyfriend, but she couldn't be rude and risk offending him and his family, which she was absolutely sure was a powerful youkai family.

"We'll see," she answered vaguely.

Inumaru mean while was sizing up the male that seemed to have his eyes locked on his sister's backside. "So, how long have you two been seeing each other?"

Jamie looked cheerfully at Inumaru. "Oh, about a year or so."

Inumaru promptly sent Maruchi a "if you knew and didn't tell me...DIE!" look to which Maruchi shook his head in denial.

"So, you're British then?" Sesshoumaru was asking.

"Yes, we actually migrated there during the Feudal Era here," Jamie explained.

"More like fled," Ann snapped. "One of our ancestor's dumb cousins mated a human that ended up giving birth to a hanyou! Our family had to flee because of all the trouble it stirred up!"

Sesshoumaru raised a graceful eyebrow. "Oh? What was your ancestor's name?"

All three of Saphira's children looked extremely agitated at the polite, ice cold tone that Sesshoumaru was using.

"Who remembers!" Jamie answered intervening at the troubled expression on Nakia's face.

"How long do you plan on staying in Tokyo?" Saphira asked, she seemed to be worried about the here and now.

"Well, there is a major dance competition going on for the next couple of weeks," Jamie answered then turned to Nakia. "I was actually hoping that you would be my partner?"

"Really?" Nakia's excitement was obvious.

Inumaru and Maruchi watched the interplay with avid interest. Inumaru was deducing that the only reason Nakia was fond of this male was because of their shared interest in dance.

Maruchi, however, was wondering how much money it would take to bribe the guy to get him to leave his little sister alone.

"So where are you staying?" Sesshoumaru asked.

"Well, because of the competition most of the available hotels are booked up," Jamie said. "Nakia offered us a room at the Shrine."

They all smelled the lie as soon as it left his lips. Nakia looked up at him with general confusion.

"Jamie, I didn't-" Nakia began but Sesshoumaru cut her off smoothly.

"I have a suit at the Hilton downtown," Sesshoumaru said. "You and your sister can stay there while you are in Tokyo."

Saphira, whose blood pressure had sky rocketed between the boy's statement and her mate's, sighed in relief.

"Well," Jamie started to protest.

"Please, I insist," Sesshoumaru smiled. "Consider it a gift."

Having nothing to argue against Jamie nodded.

"So, are we staying for dinner or what?" Ann asked when her pup started fussing.

"Of course, you are welcome to stay," Saphira said. "I believe our hosts are fixing ika over fried rice with soy sauce."

"Ika? What is that? Some kinda fish?" Ann asked with distaste.

Maruchi and Inumaru grinned evilly.

"Yes, its a kind of fish," Maruchi said.

"The kind that has tentacles," Inumaru answered trying to smother his mirth.

"Tentacles?" Ann wondered allowed then as it dawned on her what they talking about her face become contorted with disgust. "Squid?"

The boys, whose laughter could no longer be contain, just nodded as they held their bellies.

Nakia grinned and Jamie looked amused. Saphira prayed that the dinner plans would be enough to send her pup's visitors packing.

"No way am I eating squid!" Ann nearly shrieked. Her pup who had been settling down was startled by this outburst and started crying. "I'm going out to eat, Jamie!"

Jamie rolled his eyes. "I guess we won't be staying for dinner."

"Why can't you stay?" Nakia asked.

"Ann is sorta my chaperon," Jamie explained. "She's the only reason why my parents let me come."

"You still live with your parents?" Maruchi asked in disbelief.

"No, they paid for this trip and one of their stipulations was that I was chaperoned," Jamie explained sheepishly.

"Then why do you need a place to stay if they paid for your trip?" Inumaru asked.

"Didn't you hear him the first time?" Ann demanded. "All the nice places are booked solid!"

"Have you rented a car?" Sesshoumaru asked interrupting the female's rant.

"Yes, it's parked around the side street next to the shrine," Jamie answered.

"You can follow me to the hotel then," Sesshoumaru said as his keys jingled in his pocket.

"Thank god!" Ann declared. "Let's go Jamie!"

Jamie turned to Nakia and grinned. He looked like a boy who had in his possession a precious treasure. "I guess I'll pick you up tomorrow?"

"Yup," Nakia said returning his grin. "Six?"

"Yup."

Jamie then pulled Nakia to his chest, and ignoring the growls of protest from Inumaru, Maruchi and Sesshoumaru, kissed Nakia softly.

Saphira growled too, but hers was lower and the males' covered hers.

"I'll see you tomorrow then," Jamie said softly and walked confidently past Sesshoumaru down the stairs leading away from the shrine.

"And just where are you going tomorrow at six?" Saphira demanded when the youkai were out of hearing range.

"The dance competition, Mom," Nakia answered. "Where did you think we were going?"

Saphira only sighed and made her way to the house.

"Hey, I heard about this thing that they do here in Tokyo," Maruchi grinned. "It's supposed to be the hottest thing to do here."

Inumaru looked at his brother suspiciously. "And just what is it?"

Maruchi merely chuckled. "If you want to know, you'll have to come. You in, Nakia?"

Nakia, who was still staring dreamily after her boy-toy, answered. "Sure, count me in."

"Alright, I guess I'm in too," Inumaru said but was thinking that someone had to keep the twins out of trouble.

"Cool, dress for the club," Maruchi said. "We'll leave when Mom goes to bed."

Inumaru raised his brows at this but said nothing.

* * *

It was around three in the morning when the three pups found themselves sliding the door to the house closed. Akio had insisted on joining them.

"Nakia, why did you have to wear that? You know its cold," Maruchi complained knowing she would be begging for his leather jacket in no time.

"Whatever!" She said complete with eye roll. She was wearing a pair of low cut, hip hugging jeans. Her shirt had no back except for the ties holding it together. The front of the shirt was see-through and sequined with beads, only her breasts were protected from view. Her thick, silvery red hair was coiled at the top of her head.

"Where are going anyway?" Akio asked as they climbed into Maruchi's rental car. It was the newest coupe from Mercedes. It was sleek and very fast.

"You'll see," Maruchi grinned and pushed the car into gear.

It didn't take them long to speed through the ghost streets. There was no one about and all the lights blinked red and yellow. They raced into the heart of Tokyo.

"Here we are," Maruchi announced as the approached a parking garage. There were so many cars already lined up outside the garage on the street it was hard for Inumaru's little German car to slide by.

"Look at all the skanks!" Nakia said almost delighted. The women were all dressed much worse than Nakia in short mini skirts and tight white blouses that their breasts threaten to pop out of.

"This is Tokyo Drift isn't it?" Akio asked in awe as they got out of the car.

"Yup."

"What is Tokyo Drift?" Nakia asked.

"Can't you tell?" Akio asked.

"Street racing?" Nakia guessed after seeing all the pimped out cars with tales and slick decals.

"Japanese style, baby!" Maruchi said eying a group of skanks walking by.

"Who are you cutie? A foreigner obviously, where ya from?" Asked one of the identified skanks.

"America," Maruchi answered.

Nakia walked up next to Maruchi though and begin sniffing the air. "Hm, cheap perfume and fake leather, smells like a couple of saseko. I suggest you get lost before I leave tread marks on your pretty faces."

The women backed off, smiling nervously.

"Ah, Nakia! What'd you do that for?" Maruchi complained.

"What are you talking about, Brother? I just saved your honor," Nakia smiled and batted her eyes.

The group made their way to the main drag of the race and looked over the cars in the running.

"Oh, he's cute," Nakia commented seeing one of the obvious drivers. He was standing protectively by his red hot Spyder. He looked American.

"I thought we were seeing someone?" Inumaru asked as is little sister observed the driver's butt.

"That's love, sweet brother, this is lust," Nakia explained.

Inumaru sighed. "You are way too young to be in a serious relationship, besides I don't like the smell of him."

Nakia decidedly ignored her brother's declarations in the interest of frying bigger fish. She approached her countryman and began conversing with him in English. The man seemed very surprised when Nakia began speaking to him in his native tongue. Inumaru quickly learned that the man spoke only broken Japanese and needed a translator to help him enter the race. When Nakia volunteered the man drug her off in the direction of a large crowd.

"Excuse me, excuse me!" Nakia said trying to reach the center of the crowd. "I have a guy that wants to race!"

The crowd parted and allowed Nakia and the American through. In the center the other drivers were deciding on how much it would cost to race.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, but this man would like to race," Nakia announced.

The four men looked at her and then the American.

"Does he speak Japanese?" One of them asked.

"Not very well."

"What's his native tongue?" Was the next question.

"English."

"None of us are fluent enough to converse with him," one of them shrugged.

"I figured as much, that's why I'm here jackass," Nakia said rolling her eyes.

The men looked mildly surprised at her statement.

"Is there a problem with that?" She asked tapping her open toed shoe, it clicked against the pavement.

"No, the entry fee is two grand," one of them said. Nakia translated and the American handed them the cash.

"This is American money," one of them complained.

"So?" Nakia challenged them. "Is that a problem?"

Her tone begged for them to start something.

"What are you, honey, his squeeze?" One of them asked with a dirty smile in her direction.

"No, ass," Nakia answered tersely. "I'm an American."

That surprised them since Nakia had no accent and spoke perfect Japanese.

"It's a gift, what else can I say?" Nakia smiled.

"Alright," one of them said grudgingly and they began to dictate the rules for the race.

Nakia dutifully translated quickly and efficiently.

"Thanks again for helping me out," the cute American said smiling bashfully at her. "Sorry for dragging you away from your boyfriend."

"Oh, that's alright," Nakia said smiling, "besides he wasn't my boyfriend, but my brother."

"That explains the look of death," the man chuckled. "Maybe I'll see you after the race, that is if you're not ashamed to be seen with a loser."

"The only loser is a sore one," Nakia said cheerfully. "If I don't see you, I'm staying with my family at the Higurashi Shrine on the west side of the city."

"I'll make sure to check it out, but if I don't," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, "be sure to look me up in the States."

Nakia smiled brightly taking the card and waving goodbye as the man made his way back to the starting line.

"Aren't we the social butterfly?" A familiar deep, male voice asked.

Nakia smiled sweetly. "You always ruin my fun, Inu."

"Well, I'm about to ruin it even more. The cops have got wind of the race and they're on their way to bust us up," Inumaru informed her grimly. "We have to find Akio and Maruchi."

"Then all we have to do is find the prettiest girls here," Nakia retorted.

They quickly located the wayward members of their party just as the cars in the race were beginning to fire up. As they pulled away from the crowd with the windows down, they could hear the peeling tires of the race cars. And the distant wail of sirens.

* * *

Saphira sat quietly at the table sipping coffee. She was eternally grateful that she had thought to bring her coffee maker. She had remembered, as she was packing for the trip, that her family members in this part of the world drank tea, not coffee. And she knew she couldn't last more than a few hours without her morning cup.

It was still early morning and she knew her three mischievous pups wouldn't be up for many hours. They thought they were so slick sneaking out like they did. Little did they know that their doting uncle often kept the late shift and watched their movements to ensure no danger came to them. Many times she would get up in the morning to call Yasuo, only to get the answer, "Believe me, you don't want to know." That often worried her and she would bug him until she got more details. No such luck on this occasion.

She sighed loudly looking at her cell phone with a glare that would smoldered living organisms.

"Something wrong?" A disheveled Sesshoumaru asked appearing in the doorway.

"Oh nothing," Saphira answered swigging down the rest of her coffee. "Just trying to be a parent."

"Something that I would be delighted to help you with of course," Sesshoumaru said running his fingers through his short hair.

Saphira sighed again. "I...I just don't know, Sesshoumaru."

He sat down across from her and took her hands in his. "Listen to me, Saphira, you need me more now than you did when the children were younger. They need me more now than ever. They need a father figure and you need support. I love you and have never stopped loving you, let me help you now."

Saphira couldn't pull her gaze away from his earnest eyes.

"Besides, we can't let Nakia go on believing that she's going to be the baby forever can we?" Sesshoumaru smiled. "I know you want more children, I've caught looking at the baby clothes in the mall."

Saphira blushed madly. "You spied on me!"

Sesshoumaru chuckled at her accusation. "I will give you anything you want, including more pups."

Saphira smiled happily at the thought of having more pups. She had missed being truly needed by pups. Her love for children was like a thirst that could never be quite quenched and she knew Sesshoumaru knew that.

"Okay," was her whispered replied.

Their romantic moment was rudely interrupted with Nakia flying down the stairs with her hair loose and going everywhere.

"Mama! What time is it?" She asked frantically.

"A quarter to six, why are you up?" Saphira asked frowning.

"The try-outs are this morning, Mama!" Nakia almost whined. Then her cell ringed startling them all.

"Hello?" Nakia answered, she listened for a moment and then her shoulders seemed to sag with relief. "Oh, that's wonderful!...NO! I'm going back to bed!...Huh?...Oh. Okay, I'll see you then. Bye, I love you too."

Nakia shot her mother a thank god that's settled look, and ran back upstairs.

Sesshoumaru looked down at his mate. "What kind of ring tone was that?"

Saphira scrunched up her nose. "The latest hip hop, pop tune I'm sure."

* * *

It wasn't until much later that day that all Saphira's pups dragged themselves out of bed and started searching the kitchen for food.

"Inumaru, fix me some ramen," Nakia whined laying her head down on the table.

"Weren't you supposed to go to some dance thing today?" Inumaru asked pulling down two bowls.

Maruchi had already plopped down next to his sister stuffing his face with noodles.

"Yeah, but one of the judges got sick so it was canceled," Nakia explained not even bothering to pick her head up.

"So, is your boy toy coming over?" Maruchi asked with his mouth full.

"Supposedly," she answered. Then there was a knock on the front door. "That's probably him now."

She left the kitchen to answer the door.

"Is it all set up?" Maruchi asked Inumaru.

His brother grinned evilly. "Oh, yes."

"Excellent!" Maruchi said and returned to his noodles.

Nakia, her boyfriend and the sister with baby in tow.

"Are you hungry? Do you want some tea?" Nakia offered looking through the fridge.

"Iced tea or brewed tea?" Ann snipped. "I don't see why Americans like that awful iced tea! Tea was meant to be brewed and taken warm and in tea cups!"

Inumaru and Maruchi watched the unstable youkai's rant about iced tea.

"Actually it's usually just common among American Southerners," Jamie said thoughtfully.

"Hey Jamie, my cousin has this cool new video game console, would you like to see it?" Maruchi asked barely able to suppress his grin.

"Yeah, that would be great!" Jamie readily agreed.

"I want to see it too!" Ann hollered, then turned to Nakia. "Will you hold the baby for me? I've been trying to decide what console to buy for my boys."

Nakia nodded in mute agreement and took the baby and watched as Ann hurried up the stairs with her brothers and Jamie.

The next the thing she knew Maruchi and Inumaru were pounding down the stairs laughing and yelling, "THE BRITISH ARE COMING! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!"

Right on their tail were two very wet and very agitated British citizens.


	7. Life changing Circumstances

Brief Note: I apologize to all my readers. I have been gone more than a year and that is unacceptable. I went through a lot of personal drama and that affected my life greatly. Thank you to all of those who have stood by patiently waiting. I am back and working on this fiction and others. Sincerely, Fireflycross

The young man leaned against the brick wall and spoke quietly into the tiny cell phone.

"I did it."

"Excellent, now our family won't have to suffer the humiliation of being poor." Came the reply.

"Her father has shown up." The young man said slowly.

"Sesshoumaru?"

"Yes."

"Fuck!" The young man flinched and shifted his weight.

"I'm sure this won't screw up the situation, Sir."

"Do you?" The voice was sarcastic. "Be sure that it doesn't or you will find that you and yours will be outcast from this family."

He paled considerably, leaning over and pinching his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

"You need to bring the girl to our own territory, we'll be better equipped to control the situation as it develops."

"Yes, Sir."

"That is all." And the line went dead.

Nakia awoke feeling strangely sick.

"What the fuck did I drink to much?" She murmured to herself.

She swung out of bed and made her way to the bathroom. Being on her feet seemed to make the nausea worse. She closed the door and sat on the closed toilet with her head in-between her legs. That seemed to make it subside. Nakia sucked it up enough to get the shower going and wash. By the time she was back into her shared room the nausea was raging enough to make her go back to bed.

Maruchi knew there was something wrong with Nakia. It wasn't something he could smell, see or touch. He just felt it, the only way a twin can feel and know things.He tapped lightly on her door. She had slept in later than usual and he had sent her boyfriend away so she could rest.There was no answer so he gently opened the door and eased it shut after he slid through. He couldn't spot any part of her anatomy.She must've been buried way beneath the sheets. He sat on the edge of the bed pulling the sheets away from where he thought her head would be.

"Naki?" He murmured discovering her face. For a moment he hoped his daughters looked like her. She had such a sweet face, their mother's face.

"Maru?" Her eyes fluttered open.

"Are you ok?" He asked, he knew that she would lie.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" She slowly sat up.

He frowned at her. "Don't lie Naki, it doesn't become you."

She frowned and pulled her knees up to her chin. Then, she started crying. All he felt was her pain.

"What should I do?" She sobbed quietly.

He was happy she wasn't like other girls who coughed and hacked when they cried. She cried quietly, sniffling here and there with the tears sliding silently down her pale cheeks. He sighed knowing an abortion was out of the question. The real question was whether or not she should marry the father of her pup. Maruchi could admit that he didn't like the punk. That British family wasn't honorable and had long lost any respect they once held among the clans that had remained in Japan.

"Naki?" She wiped her nose on her sleeve and turned to face her twin. Her liquid amber eyes almost made him wish he didn't have to tell her what was on the tip of his tongue.

Almost.

"We have intelligence about Jamie's family." He started slowly. "He's after money, Naki. Since his family fled feudal Japan, they've lost their fortune. You know that they are distantly related to us, but when they ran off they lost any ties they had with our clan. They'll get money any way they can. We're very wealthy, Naki, and I know this is hard for to accept but you have to."

She was quiet for a long time. Just staring at the wall watching the light from the window dance across it.

"How long do you think I have, before Mom and everyone else can spell it?" She asked finally.

"A couple of weeks maybe."

"What if I go away until the pup is born..?" The answer lingered in the air, but they both knew that would never happen. It was wrong to give up a child just because one wasn't prepared.

"You've made your bed, Naki." Maruchi shrugged. "It's up to you whether to be grown up enough to lay in it."

Nakia and Maruchi sat down at the table quietly in front of their parents. It was Nakia's responsibility to tell them, Maruchi was only there for support.

"Mom." Nakia decided she would more or less ignore her father since he had only recently made his existence known.

"Yes?" Saphira was distracted sipping her coffee and reading the _Tokyo Times_.

"I'm pregnant."

Maruchi being the clever one had a towel ready for when his mother dropped her coffee. Sesshoumaru's only response was to growl.

It took a moment for Saphira to recover. "Are you keeping the pup?"

The twins knew that their mother believed in all freedoms, but when it came to abortion, it was the freedom or the very life of the unborn child that she defended. "

Of course, Mama." Nakia scoffed.

"I'm guessing that Brit is the father?" Saphira sighed.

"Yeah."

"So?" Saphira pushed.

"So what?"

"What are your plans then?" Saphira demanded."

Oh." Nakia thought for a moment. "I'm going to finish school Mama, then apply to a university, NYU maybe."

Saphira absorbed this. "Are you giving up dancing then?"

"Yes." Nakia answered without hesitation. "I want to be able to support this pup as soon as I'm able."

Sesshoumaru nodded approvingly. His fear had been that she would run off with the mongrel. That would indeed be less honorable than birthing a bastard. Besides in this time, an unwed mother was common even expected and there was nothing shameful about it. Among the humans anyways.

"What of the mongrel?" Sesshoumaru asked keeping eye contact with his daughter.

Nakia squirmed. "I don't know, I haven't informed him of his impending fatherhood."

Sesshoumaru seemed to approve of this answer and settle against Saphira.

"May I offer you a bit of advice?" Saphira asked already softening her daughter up.

"Of course Mama."

Saphira seemed to gather her thoughts. "I do not like this youkai you have mated with..."

_To use the term loosely,_ Sesshoumaru thought sarcastically.

"...I think it's best if he is not in the picture, Naki. He doesn't come from a good clan. Look at that sister of his, I know you are much better than that." Saphira paused, then continued. "I want my grandpup to have a father, don't get me wrong. But I want and I'm sure you do as well, for you to have a mate that will always put the interests of your family first. I just don't think this youkai is capable."

Nakia took in this information without a hitch. What her twin, her best and most trustworthy friend had told her, still lingered in her mind. She only nodded in response to her mother's statement.

"If you'll excuse me." Nakia asked rising from the table.

"Just a moment, Nakia." Sesshoumaru interjected. Nakia sat back down.

"It is extremely mature of you to take in all of our advice without protest." Sesshoumaru began. "I only wish to tell you that you are a mother now, and that in all your decisions your most important concern be that pup. You are no longer responsible for just yourself, but for the life of the pup as well."

Nakia bowed her head and left the table quietly.


End file.
